Acoustic phonographic apparatus

ABSTRACT

An acoustic phonograph including a stationary vinyl coated paperboard phonograph record provided with a sound track of hill and dale configuration, an arm rotatably mounted on the record, and a needle carried by the arm engaging the sound track to cause the record to vibrationally flex and act as a speaker reproducing the sound recorded on the record.

United States Patent Mayer ct a1. i.

ACOUSTIC PHONOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Inventors: Richard J. Mayer, 790 Smith Road,

Parsippany, NJ. 07054; Benjamin Kinberg, 425 Riverside Drive, New York, NY. 10025 Filed: Nov. 20, 1970 Appl. No.: 91,293

U.S. Cl. 274/9 R, 274/1 A, 274/42 R Int. Cl. Gllb 25/04 Field of Search 274/1 R, 9 R, 14 R,

274/42 R, l G, 7

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Bliss 274/9 R 12/1951 Bunyard 274/9 R [4 1 July 17, 1973 3,610,637 10/1971 Kinberg 274/14 3,269,734 8/1966 Ottofy 274/42 R 2,703,241 3/1955 Abramson 274/42 R 1,792,159 2/1931 Gonzalez 274/42 R 3,486,756 12/1969 Disko et a1 274/1 A Primary ExaminerLouis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-Charles E. Phillips Attorney-Charles J. Worth [57] ABSTRACT An acoustic phonograph including a stationary vinyl coated paperboard phonograph record provided with a sound track of hill and dale configuration, an arm rotatably mounted on the record, and a needle carried by the arm engaging the sound track to cause the record to vibrationally flex and act as a speaker reproducing the sound recorded on the record. 1

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Pmminm 1 1191s SHEEF 2 [1F 2 FIG? INVENTORS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to phonographic apparatus and more particularly to such apparatus of the acoustic type wherein the recorded sound is made audible by a speaker diaphragm being mechanically vibrated by the undulations formed in the sound track groove of the phonograph record.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to produce acoustic phonographic apparatus which is of simple and inexpensive construction.

Another object is to provide such apparatus wherein the phonographic record acts as the speaker diaphragm.

Another object is to provide such apparatus which reproduces recorded sound loudly and with good fidelity.

Another object is to provide such apparatus wherein the record forms a part of a package containing merchandise and the remainder of the apparatus is of a size to be stored within the package with the merchandise.

Another object is to provide such apparatus wherein the record has a plurality of sound tracks and means are provided for selecting a desired track in a simple manner.

Another object is to provide improved acoustic phonographic apparatus for use in a greeting card.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing in combination a record having a sound track thereon, a needle positioned to engage the sound track, means for providing relative movement of the needle and the sound track along the sound track, the record being formed and supported to be placed in vibration by the engagement of the needle and the sound track and to act as a speaker diaphragm to reproduce the sound recorded on the sound track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Preferred embodiments of the invention have been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and are shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of phonographic apparatus in accordance with the present invention including a record and a needle carrying rotatable arm.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 4-4 on FIG. I showing the hill and dale configuration of the sound track.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 on FIG. 4 showing an end view of two sound track grooves of the record. I

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a box which incorporates a record.

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of a record according to the present invention having multiple sound tracks with the needle carrying arm shown in phantom in a position for selecting one of the sound tracks.

FIG. 8 is a sectional plan view of a modified form of the present invention usable in greeting cards.

2 FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to FIGS. 1 5, the present invention generally comprises a phonograph record 10 and an am 11 rotatably mounted on the record and carrying a phonograph needle 12.

The record 10 is formed by laminating a thin sheet 14 of vinyl plastic about .001 inch in thickness to a sheet of paper or cardboard 15. A sound track in the form of a helical groove 16 is impressed upon the record by applying a metal master record against the surface of the vinyl sheet with sufficient pressure to emboss the sound track of the master record on the surface of the record.

The floor of the groove 16 is formed with vertical undulations including high points 17 and low points 18 corresponding to the sounds to be reproduced. The spacing of the undulations corresponds to the tone of the recorded sound while the magnitude of the undulations corresponds to the relative amplitudes of the sounds. This type of recorded sound track is commonly referred to as having a hill and dale configuration.

The arm 11 is provided with a central post 20 having a head 21 which is forced through an ppening 22 in the center of the record. On one side of the post 20, the arm is provided with a slot 24 in which a slide 25 is slidably mounted. The needle 12 is embedded in the slide 25. The slide has a center web portion 26 positioned within the slot and upper and lower flanges 27 and 28 each having a greater width than the slot 24. The slide is dimensioned to slide easily within the slot 2 4. As shown in FIG. 3 the needle 12 is inclined about 7 from the vertical in the direction of motion of the needle along the sound track groove. On the other side of the post 20, the arm is provided with a circular ridge 30 on the upper surface and a formation 31 on the lower surface in engagement with the record. The circular ridge receives the tip of a finger of the operator to facilitate the manual rotation of the arm 11. The formation 31 is sized to flex the arm to maintain downward pressure upon the lower flange 28 of the slide to maintain the needle in the groove 16 and restrain the needle against vertical movement as the needle moves along the sound track formed in the groove 16.

The record 10 is glued to a sheet. of corrogated cardboard 32 to provide sufiicient rigidity to allow the record to be hand held at one corner or edge while the arm 11 is rotated by the other hand.As the arm 11 is rotated clockwise, the needle 12 moves along the causing the record to vibrate up and down toward and away from the arm 11. The entire record is a speaker I diaphragm and sound eminates from the entire record surface to produce a surprisingly high volume. As the needle follows the spiral groove, the slide 25 slides along the slot 24 toward the center of the record. When the needle reaches the inner end of the sound track, the arm II is flexed by hand to lift the needlelZ from the groove, and the slide is returned to the outer edge of the grooved portion of the record.

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown a box 33 of merchandise such asbreakfast cereal or cookies which incorporates a record member 10 on the outer surface thereof. The record 10 can be either glued to the outer surface of the box or the vinyl film can be laminated directly to the wall of the box and the sound track embossed directly into the wall of the box. In either case, a circular perforated line 34 is provided in the center of the recording by which an opening is formed to receive the post of the needle carrying arm shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The arm 11 is packaged within the box with the merchandise to provide a completely selfcontained composite phonograph and package of merchandise.

In FIG. 7 there is shown a record 10 containing a plurality of separate interleaved shound track grooves 35, 36 and 37. Each of the grooves 35, 36 and 37 start at a different point on the periphery of the record and have a lead-in portion 39, 40 and 41 respectively for intercepting the needle and guiding it into the main portion of the groove containing the sound track.

Each of the grooves contain a different recorded message and a symbol is provided on the record at the beginning of each groove to aid in positioning the needle so that it is guided into the groove containing the message selected by the operator. As shown in FIG. 7 the record is provided with representations 42 and 44 of different characters adjacent to the lead-in groove portions 39 and 40. The sound tracks of the grooves 35 and 36 could be messages about these characters or the voices of these characters. To hear the message associated with the character 42, the operator positions the arm 11 so that it points toward that character with the slides 25 at the outer end of the groove 24 as shown by the dot dash lines. Upon rotation of the arm in a clockwise direction, the needle is guided into the groove 35 and the message recorded thereon is audibly produced.

With reference to FIG. 8, there is shown a modification of the present inventionwherein the record 10 is positioned within a shallow cardboard box 46, a portion of which is shown in the drawings. The box 46 has a front wall 47, side walls, 48 and 49, a rear wall (not shown), and top and bottom walls (not shown). The record 10 is glued to the inner face of the front wall 47 to form therewith a speaker diaphragm. In this embodiment, the arm 11 is rigidly mounted on a shaft 50 which extends through the wall 47 from a crank 51 positioned outside of the box 46. The arm 11 is provided with a curved portion 52 which engages the surface of the record. The length of the shaft 50 is insufficient to allow the curved portion 52 to assume its natural shape, and, therefore, the portion 52 is flexed into a partially straightened condition and thereby causes the arm 11 to press the needle 12 against the record. A return spring 54 is carried by a formation 55 on the arm 11 and engages the slide 25 to urge the slide radially outwardly. The crank 51 is provided with an opening 56 for receiving the finger tip of the operator.

Rotation of the crank 51 causes the arm 11 to move the needle along the groove on the record. As the needle engages the sound track, the record and the wall 47 vibrate as a unitary speaker diaphragm. As the needle moves inwardly along the helical groove, the spring 54 is tensioned. When the needle reaches the inner end of the groove, the free end of the crank 51 is moved away from the wall 47 to cause the shaft 50 to tilt. The curved portion 52 of the arm 11 is thus flexed so as to relieve the pressure on the slide 25 and lift the needle out of the record groove. The spring 54 then returns the slide 25 to its starting position at the outer end of the slot 24 and the apparatus is reset to be played again.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides acoustic phonographic apparatus which is of simple and inexpensive construction wherein the record acts as the speaker diaphragm to reproduce recorded sound loudly and with good fidelity. It will further be seen that this invention provides such apparatus which readily adapts itself to use in connection with merchandise packages and greeting cards and lends itself to multiple track recording.

We claim:

1. Phonographic apparatus comprising in combination a record member having a track thereon and being formed and edge supported so as to be placed in vibration and act as a speaker diaphragm in response to interaction of a needle and said track, said record member forming an inwardly facing surface of a box-like structure, a needle adapted to engage and interact with said track when moved along said track, a shaft extending through the box-like structure at the center of said record member, an arm mounted on one end of said shaft within the box-like structure and having means for mounting said needle for movement along said arm on one side of said shaft, and a crank member mounted on the other end of said shaft outside the box-like structure and having means on the other side of said shaft diametrically opposite from said needle mounting means for manual rotation of said am thereby moving said needle along said track.

2. Phonographic apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said track is a helical groove to cause said needle to be moved radially inwardly upon rotation of said arm, a spring is mounted on said arm to engage and urge said needle mounting means radially outwardly, and said crank member being operative to tilt said shaft so as to lift said needle out of engagement with said groove allowing said spring member to move said needle mounting means.

i t t i 

1. Phonographic apparatus comprising in combination a record member having a track thereon and being formed and edge supported so as to be placed in vibration and act as a speaker diaphragm in response to interaction of a needle and said track, said record member forming an inwardly facing surface of a box-like structure, a needle adapted to engage and interact with said track when moved along said track, a shaft extending through the box-like structure at the center of said record member, an arm mounted on one end of said shaft within the box-like structure and having means for mounting said needle for movement along said arm on one side of said shaft, and a crAnk member mounted on the other end of said shaft outside the box-like structure and having means on the other side of said shaft diametrically opposite from said needle mounting means for manual rotation of said arm thereby moving said needle along said track.
 2. Phonographic apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said track is a helical groove to cause said needle to be moved radially inwardly upon rotation of said arm, a spring is mounted on said arm to engage and urge said needle mounting means radially outwardly, and said crank member being operative to tilt said shaft so as to lift said needle out of engagement with said groove allowing said spring member to move said needle mounting means. 